Few in rugby would realise that Melbourne, beyond their inner city collection of world class stadia, has a 113 year old institution now referred to as Visy Park.
Nestled in the wonderful Princes Park in Carlton North, the ground historically is noted for being the first home ground of the Carlton Football Club, who played in the AFL/VFL’s inaugural season in 1897. The last official game was played there May 21st 2005, when Carlton played Melbourne to effectively farewell one of the last suburban grounds to be used by the AFL.
The record crowd for the ground is 62,986 (1945 VFL Grand Final), although its capacity now is far less, especially since 2006 when the ground upgraded training and administrative facilities there to the tune of nearly 16 million.
This was developed further when the Victorian government contributed a further 1.5 million towards the total 2.3 million project to upgrade the Heroes and Pratt Stands to give the Park their latest tenants – the Melbourne Rebels Super 15 rugby team.
Carlton have though extended the privileges of the famous Park to many clubs, with Hawthorn, Fitzroy, the Western Bulldogs, South Melbourne and more recently the new VFL side the Collingwood Football club.
And even the NRL’s Melbourne Storm has resided there.
It continues the excellent relationship between Victorian sporting teams, showing clearly that the inclusion of the Rebels is welcomed even by “their code competitors”
Melbourne Rebels Chairman Harold Mitchell reflected on the fact that the community was embracing the new club, especially with the announcement of the Rebels new home.
“The Visy Park project is another demonstration of how we all work together to achieve success for the city and the state,” Mr Mitchell said.
“Carlton Football Club in particular has welcomed the Rebels into their home and we are excited about the opportunity of being part of and enhancing the sporting and community complex.”
It shows very much how the Melbourne Rebels have already become a ‘team within a team’ in what is often described as a city that is crowded with teams from all codes.
Far from a reflection of the infamous Barassi Line (the theoretical divide splitting Australian Rules and rugby – both union and league – between geographical borders), the Rebels, technically behind the Line, are seen by many to be the missing link for Melbourne!
The Visy Park facilities will ensure the squad are put through their paces when they assemble in October. Two men that will be charged with that at the ground level will be two of the Rebels back room generals, with Troy Thomson (Rebels High Performance Manager) and Mark Andrews (Head of Strength and Conditioning) eager to put the facilities of the club to good use.
In particular Andrews, who is sometimes referred to as Bumper (coming from the Huddersfield Giants) has put the West Tigers and St George sides well through the mangler. Most of Bumpers former league players say that they achieved their best results under him, saying they “are pushed more and picked up on little things that most people wouldn’t see”.
With the new gym, pool, aquatic rehab facilities, fitness studios, a 70 seat theatre, and offices for players and administrators, the Rebels are already well at home in Melbourne, and planning for their new life in the 2011 Super 15.